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In the past six months, I've been invited to 10 karaoke birthday parties. And last weekend, my friend Thomas and I, bored and lacking any real plans, ducked into a neighborhood bar at midday to belt out a few songs for the hell of it. No drunken shenanigans, no elaborate preplanning. It was just another stop on a Sunday afternoon.

Blame it on American Idol or even Lost in Translation. In the era of the wannabe performer, karaoke has evolved from a silly pastime into something far more ambitious (if still ridiculously fun). Let's just say that everyone takes it very seriously now. On a recent night at Karaoke Sing Sing, a bar in New York's East Village, I noted no fewer than a dozen crooners who were neither "pitchy" nor "just all right, dawg." I'd have put any one of them straight through to Hollywood Week.

After years of persuading friends, assistants, and even the odd curmudgeonly coworker to take a turn on the microphone, I've learned one thing: Everybody's got a song. I met my former assistant Ericka Hunter (then Yang) at a hip-hop dance class six years ago; she was an ex-Rockette who'd played several small parts on Broadway. Ericka quickly became my all-time favorite karaoke coconspirator. When she was working with me, long shoot days always ended with a mic and a good song. My tune of choice was (and still is) Eminem's "Stan." I'd do the violent rap, ratcheting up the emotion with each verse, while Ericka performed the Dido hook in a soothing angelic twang. When she soloed with Quarterflash's "Harden My Heart," she killed it every time. Now Ericka is back on Broadway, as part of the ensemble cast in the hit Rock of Ages. Every night, she performs "To Be With You" by Mr. Big. And on evenings when, as an understudy, she fills in for the lead role of Sherrie, Ericka finally gets to sing "Harden My Heart" for a real, live, ticket-buying audience.

In honor of our annual music issue, this month I toast the performer in each of us. With the help of photographer Hao Zeng—whose song, incidentally, is Stevie Wonder's "For Once in My Life"—I've rounded up a great cast of performers. Some have cool day jobs, a few are aspiring singers, and every one of them, of course, has a tune—which I used to spin fashion alter egos using clothes straight from the spring runways. So, since we all know that the karaoke track you choose speaks volumes about you, what's your pick? This month, at least, I think I'll switch to Elton John's "Your Song."